Penn Badgley explains Joe's last words in 'You' finale

Penn Badgley is sharing his take on the last word his You serial killer character, Joe Goldberg.

At the end of the show, Joe speaks directly to the viewer, saying, “It’s unfair, putting all of this on me. Aren’t we all just products of our environment? Hurt people hurt people. I never stood a chance… Maybe we have a problem as a society. Maybe we should fix what’s broken within us. Maybe the problem isn’t me. Maybe it’s you.”

Joe says this after getting convicted for his crimes. But does the statement mean he’s once again avoiding taking responsibility for his crimes, or are the viewers really at fault for viewing his murderous run for five seasons?

Badgley answered this question in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying, “It's both. It's a cop out from him, but it's also true because, at the end of the day, he's not real and we are.”

“And so we've been watching a show about him and he no longer exists, so it is about us. It couldn't be about him. He's not real. So that's kind of plain and simple to me,” he added.

“I mean, I think again: do we need to see him change? What would actually be the conditions for him to change meaningfully? Is that what anybody wants to see?” he asked.

“That would actually be a very different show with a very different pace and tone and ethos, and it wouldn't be as popular as it is. So it's frustratingly true, I think, his statement in the end,” Penn Badgley explained of the show’s end.